Seattle Jeweler Finds Inspiration for Designs in Pacific Northwest Scenery

Wendy Woldenberg opened her West Seattle retail retailer and studio WEND Jewellery on Earth Day 2021 after educating jewellery design to highschool college students for 22 years. Her jewellery collections are impressed by nature, whereas her focus is on sustainable supplies and enterprise practices. A member of Moral Metalsmiths, Woldenberg melts and reuses clients’ gold for his or her new items, makes use of lab-grown diamonds from U.S. labs, post-consumer recycled diamonds and Montana sapphires. She additionally provides in-store lessons on a variety of matters from embroidery and constructing a succulent terrarium to yoga. Plans for an anniversary celebration included a salt tasting.

What do you want about Seattle?

I just like the water and the mountains and the inexperienced and the recent air and it’s good leaping off place for journey. With the mountains you possibly can see them most locations that you’re. You’re them or you possibly can go to them. I come from Chicago, which was actually flat so I benefit from the heights.

What’s rewarding about your retail operation?

I get lots of tears of pleasure when somebody can truly put on Grandma’s ring as a unique piece. It’s very satisfying for me.

I get pleasure from assembly individuals who dwell within the neighborhood of West Seattle. West Seattle is lower off as a result of our bridge went down in 2020 and it’s a bridge that supported 125,000 vehicles a day. So practically everybody who has come to the shop have been neighbors and so they have been very supportive.

Are you open for walk-in enterprise?

I’m open three days every week and I get perhaps 75 p.c of my enterprise from individuals who have someway walked in or achieved a category and perhaps 25 p.c from pals and pals of pals. I’ve been posting lots of heirloom renovations or makeovers and getting individuals who need to soften down jewellery into one thing new. One Saturday I used to be working on the bench and a girl got here who had pushed three hours from Oregon as a result of she noticed my heirloom makeovers, and by the tip of the appointment we had designed three items of bijou from what she had.